


Quiet

by literaryshoes



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-28
Updated: 2016-03-28
Packaged: 2018-05-29 14:25:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6379792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literaryshoes/pseuds/literaryshoes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peri and the Doctor land on a new planet. Peri takes a liking to the native flowers, and puts them to good use.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Quiet

It was quiet, and not the eerie kind of quiet that prefaces something ominous. It was the calm, relaxed kind of quiet, interrupted only by birdsong and the intermittent chittering of the purple rodent-like animals that might have been a tiny cousin of the squirrel.

The quiet was broken by a low groaning wheeze. Slowly, a blue box materialized in the field, and a moment later, the doors opened slightly to reveal a brunette head wearing a curious expression, which quickly turned into a smile. “Nothing to worry about, Doctor. It’s beautiful!”

The head retreated back into the box, and a moment later Peri Brown herself stepped out. Already this planet fascinated her. For one thing, the grass was a shade of blue that did not occur on Earth outside of artificially-flavored candy. For another, the curious eyes of the small animal in front of her. It regarded her for a moment, then skittered on its way.

A moment later, a man with a distinctive mop of blond curls and an even more distinctive coat exited the box. “Hmm,” he scoffed. “If you like this sort of pastoral thing, I suppose.”

“Oh, come on, Doctor,” said Peri. “I bet you’ve never been here before.” She knew he’d be willing to stay if it were something new.

The Doctor sighed. “No,” he admitted. “I haven’t.”

Peri smiled. “Well, I’m going to start by checking out this grass.” She knelt, touching the grass. It was feather-soft, and tickled her slightly.

“If I’d known you had an interest in blue grass, I’d have brought you to Kentucky!” said the Doctor, and laughed.

Peri very deliberately ignored him. “Hmm… pinnately compound leaves. Not like grass on Earth. And it’s soft.”

“If you’re interested in xenoflora, you should come this way,” said the Doctor. Peri looked up. The Doctor was standing at the top of a hill, the bottom of which was hidden from view.

Peri approached the hill. On the other side was a landscape that could really only be described with one word.

Flowers.

Flowers of every color, shape and size. Peri stared a moment, before happily racing down the hill toward them. The Doctor shook his head, though he was smiling, and followed more sedately. He sat on the side of the hill, watching Peri.

Peri, for her part, immediately launched into her study of the nearest bloom, remarking on its iridescent petals and the bizarre aroma of rubber it gave off.

The Doctor sat on the hill, watching his friend with a smile. Although he tended to deal with Peri acerbically, the truth was that he found her enthusiasm refreshing. Certainly it was a perfect counterpoint to his own more jaded perspective. He leaned back, relaxing in the warm sunshine. He had to admit this was nice.

Peri continued darting between flowers, making observations and every so often taking specimens that particularly interested her. The white flower with three triangular petals that formed a perfect equilateral triangle. The hot pink flower with corkscrew-shaped petals. The cluster of tiny green flowers that resembled miniature irises. Peri spent the better part of an afternoon collecting flowers, only looking back at the Doctor when the sunlight began to wane.

He was fast asleep.

Peri smiled to herself. For all his bluster, the Doctor still needed to take care of himself from time to time, a task he so often neglected.

She approached him slowly, afraid he might pop up and startle her. Nothing of the sort happened.

Peri observed to herself that the Doctor looked surprisingly peaceful like this. And quiet, she added. She looked down at the bundle of blossoms in her arms, and inspiration struck.

Peri slowly and carefully tucked a red translucent flower behind the Doctor’s ear. He didn’t react.

Peri grinned. That gave her an even bigger idea.

About fifteen minutes later, Peri had run out of flowers, and the Doctor’s head was spotted with flowers of every description. Peri smiled. She thought to herself that it actually coordinated oddly well with that coat of his.

“Doctor,” Peri said, loudly enough to wake him.

The Doctor awoke with a start. “Peri?”

“You fell asleep,” said Peri. “I didn’t want to wake you, but it’s getting dark.”

The Doctor looked around. “You’ve finished fiddling with flowers, then.”

Peri had to bite back a laugh. “Yes,” she said.

“Good,” said the Doctor. “I was bored to tears. Although maybe now that you’ve stopped here, you’ll get out of my hair about alien plants.”

Peri couldn’t stop a peal of laughter.

The Doctor scowled. “What’s funny?”

“You’ll see later,” said Peri. “Come on, Doctor. Let’s get back to the TARDIS.”

“Let’s,” said the Doctor. He stood, dusting off his coat, and followed Peri back into the familiar blue box. The familiar grinding wheeze rang through the air, and then all was quiet once more.


End file.
